HBO’s The Idol has been receiving negative reception from both critics and audiences, even up to the first season finale.
HBO shows have been on a hot streak of popularity in the past year or so, putting out shows like The White Lotus, Yellowjackets, The Last of Us and Succession. And then, The Idol came along and may have soured it all up. A lot of the negative feedback revolving around the show has only grown since its premiere at Cannes 2023 and throughout its live airing week-to-week. Both critics and audience reviews had a lot to say about the drama show, headed by the same man who created the hit series Euphoria. Spoilers will be dropped; you have been warned!
Beginning with some of the audience statements from Rotten Tomatoes post-finale, one user wrote: “Extremely poor writing. insultingly bad dialogues, IQ of the show very low for it‘s very sleek and chic visuals. it‘s a pity, the hopes were high. sad for sam levinson being part of this disaster. the weeknd‘s performance embarrassing. lily-rose depp works her a** off tho. overall still a disappointment unfortunately.” The overall audience score on Rotten Tomatoes was 41%, while critics averaged around 22%.
While The Idol has been getting a constant bashing, it has been popular for its meme content and ability to be a hot, laughable topic at the dinner table. One Twitter user commented with a simple meme image on how HBO’s year has been going so far, and it is hilarious and true based on the critiques coming out of the show.
While the general consensus continues to the bash the show repeatedly, fans have found nuggets of depth to The Idol‘s storytelling and acting abilities. @HoeAnnaKrupa pointed out that “very first scene of the show literally shows Jocelyn acting all different types of emotions, foreshadowing her being the actual master manipulator on the show. DAMN.”
I think Variety’s final review summed the season up quite accurately: “In the end, The Idol was neither as offensive as its detractors claimed nor as “revolutionary” as co-creator Sam Levinson believed. The review went as far to add Lily-Rose Depp’s character Jocelyn to the other pop star portrayals to Lady Gaga’s Ally from A Star Is Born (2018) and Natalie Portman’s Celeste in Vox Lux. I would even add Miley Cyrus on her portrayal of her alter-ego Hannah Montana…just kidding! No, her role as Ashley O in Black Mirror.
Through all the ranting and butchering, it seems like the show attempted to push some kind of dark, gritty narrative on the pop star life. But, it became overplayed and the characters appeared to be flat with unmotivating factors. And apparently the sex scenes were drawn out and pointless.
While the cast got a bit of a bashing, The New York Times had a trio of critics who argued that the cast were already great in their own right. They mentioned that The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) was already an established pop artist and this show would barely make a dent in his music career, and Depp had already had success in films like Voyagers and Netflix’s The King.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Blackpink’s K-Pop idol Jennie Kim were two of the supporting actors who stood out the most from the show. They were probably the driving factors on screen for the audience to continue through the rollercoaster of a show. The audience and critics also praised the songs made for the show. I listened to them on Spotify, and they were not what I would call bangers, but they felt like they were in tune with the show.
As someone who has caught up with music-related shows with heavy meta commentary on the industry like Dave and Atlanta, I definitely want to watch The Idol to see if it is as bad as everyone says. A little scared but willing to give it a go.
Let us know if you think The Idol was underrated, overrated, or just rated.
